Friday 14 September 2012 08.22 EDT
First published on Friday 14 September 2012 08.22 EDT

There's no classical on the Mercury shortlist this year; just another season in which the tumbleweeds turn for contemporary classical music at the industry's most prestigious gong, and in which a prize that's supposedly all about honouring music that "pushes music in fresh and dynamic directions" closes its ears to some of the most innovative music being written and recorded today. Without being flippant – or possibly being very flippant indeed – there's more dynamism and freshness in, say, Jonathan Harvey's Bird Concerto with Pianosong or Michael Finnissy's String Quartets than some of the artists on this year's shortlist will manage in their entire careers in music, I entirely unhumbly predict.

Sour grapes from a bleating and ever-complaining sector that receives more state funding than any aspiring alt-rock band will ever hope to manage? And if you look at it, classical, compared to metal or electronica, has actually done pretty well in the history of the Mercury shortlists. So what does it matter? The Mercurys have always made an uncomfortable fist of trying to reward the most musically exciting albums while actually being weirdly commercial and conservative. Maybe we're all – metal, classical, avant-electronica – better off out of there anyway.

Perhaps, but what makes it galling is that it never used to be like this. Contemporary classical hasn't been on a Mercury shortlist since 2002, when Joanna MacGregor's Play was nominated. Prior to that, there had been at least one token classical nomination on most shortlists since the inaugural prize in 1992, a list that included John Tavener's The Protecting Veil (only 2001 and 1999 were exceptions). In fact, in one red-letter year, there were two classical noms: Mark-Anthony Turnage and Tavener, again, were both up for the gong in 1997. None of them have ever won, but at least the Mercurys were making the point that new classical music ought to be there alongside the newest rock(ish) and pop(ish) albums.

There's an argument that says there isn't enough contemporary classical music being released compared to the more commercial genres to justify its inclusion on the Mercury shortlist. That's true in terms of volumes of sales or sheer number of releases, but not in terms of quality or creative boundary-pushing. Just the opposite, in fact. When the Mercurys started, the shortlists at least tried to make a bold statement that jazz, folk, and classical were as much part of Britain's musical innovation as any other genre. Maybe that was misty-eyed idealism, but it was better than pretending that none of it exists.

As pop album sales dwindle, maybe the Mercury's priorities are more commercial than ever – more's the pity. But who knows, maybe this time next year, we'll be toasting Thomas Adès, Brian Ferneyhough, and Tansy Davies on the Mercury shortlist…. And pigs will fly…